This invention relates to equipment for housing and displaying articles requiring refrigeration, and more particularly to portable equipment for storing and displaying such articles.
The refrigeration of food and other products is well known, particularly with reference to employing a refrigerant in a vapor compression cycle, and moving air past an evaporator in the vapor compression cycle to cool the air before supplying it to the refrigeration enclosure. The common household refrigerator operates in this manner. Certain applications outside of the household place unique demands upon refrigeration equipment. For example, at trade shows, fairs and the like, space typically is available only at a premium, and display or vending is temporary. Consequently, it is desirable for refrigeration equipment to be small and compact, portable and easily assembled and disassembled. Furthermore, displays or vending situations may involve a wide variety of products, though all types of products are not available or displayed simultaneously. In such situations, it is desirable to provide a display compartment designed to most effectively display a particular product. However, if each display unit for a particular product must contain equipment forming the vapor compression refrigeration cycle, a multiplicity of product display units become prohibitively expensive.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigeration system in which a variety of display enclosures can be interchangeably connected to a refrigeration enclosure.
Another object of the invention is to provide a refrigeration system in which separate display and refrigeration units are easily assembled into one device, and later easily disassembled for ease in transporting the system.
Yet another object is to provide a refrigeration system in which structure forming air supply and air return conduits to a display enclosure is positioned in operative relation to the vapor compression refrigerant cycle components upon the connection of the display unit to a refrigeration enclosure.